This and that about the Dawgs, Boise and a few games from last night.

1. One Boise blogger believes that a key to the game is to "Limit the UGA running game to 75 yards or less. We must contain the young running back Crowell, and limit Aaron Murray’s scrambling abilities to behind the line of scrimmage. We must do this with only 6 men in the box. "
I seriously doubt it will happen but I truly hope that Boise State's defensive coordinator is of the same mindset. Let's look at Georgia's base set real quick; five huge linemen, a very solid TE, a 270 lb fullback, any running back on the team and the fleet footed Murray. If they have only 6 men in the box that means a hat on a hat across the front line with no one to account for the fullback, Murray, or the running back. That means Figgins is free to clean up any of their 6 men in the box able to get off their block. If no one gets off a block that leaves Figgins to clean up the first poor soul in the secondary who tries to come up and help out. That leaves the second man in the secondary as the first guy with a legit shot at our running back. I like those odds. If anyone reading has any influence over Boise's coaches please ask them to stick to this guy's gameplan.


2. I have read many a blog and comment by fans about how Bobo over does the play action as well as doesn't set it up with an effective enough running game. I myself have thought that we call play action a little too often. Today I saw a stat that kind of surprised me; Murray completed 68.8% of his passes when Georgia went play action last season. His overall completion percentage was 61.1%. That 68.8% was without a running game that scared any other team. If Crowell and Samuel can become more of a threat than King and Ealey were then that percentage could go even higher while leading to even bigger plays out of it.


3. In David Greene's second year at starter he improved his TD passes thrown by 5 and dropped his int's thrown by 1. If Murray can duplicate that type improvement it would mean 29 TD passes and 7 int's this season. I'll take that.

4. I am not sure if Edward Ashcoff simply worded this story about Crowell poorly or if he truly meant that Crowell blowing off the media to go to a tutoring session proves that "there’s still some diva in him". I will however be happy if the only negative headlines about Crowell are that he ignores the media to make sure his grades stay in order.

5. Did anyone else witness how inept Kentucky's offense was last night? Despite getting four turnovers by Western Kentucky the Wildcats only managed to score 14 points and were held to 190 total yards. Could this be the year that Vandy does not finish dead last in the east?

6. The fake Bulldawgs looked pretty impressive in their opener, winning 59-14. Then again it was against Memphis. They might be the best 4th place team in any division in the country. It wouldn't shock me if they upset LSU, Arkansas or Alabama. They will be the real Dawgs toughest game between the South Carolina and Florida games.

A plethora of coverage on the Dawgs

Most Dawg fans probably already read the Athens Banner-Herald but for anyone who doesn't already read it/hasn't checked it out today there is some really good coverage today. Hopefully all the newspapers that cover Georgia football will be offering more content now that the season is upon us.

One week...

By this time next week the first football games of the season will have taken place. There will be more appetizers come Friday night and by Saturday the season will be in full drive. My wife will be annoyed by the fact that in about 16 hours, from the 11am kick off of some 1aa schools to the 3am finish of some game in Hawaii, I will fit in about 35 hours of games. That is not a feat for the feint of heart. It requires loads of food that clog the arteries. Gallons of cheap bourbon, why waste the good stuff when by 2 or 3 in the afternoon you can't taste anything anyway. Channel changing with precise precision so as not to miss a down of the featured game. The ability to tune out screaming kids and a wife asking for help with said kids. A laptop to check stats of games that you know the stats from memory already but want to confirm your greatness at knowing worthless things like Georgia Southern's YAC in their game against Samford(and son). Laptop is also useful for watching games that are online that are not available on TV. Texting your friend who you know just saw the same play as you to discuss how awesome the play was and describing it in detail for now reason. Despite having all this stimulation to keep you busy and distracted still feeling as though every game is dragging on for days while anticipating the ONLY game that matters, Georgia/Boise. Add in LOTS more cheap bourbon during the game and you have a perfect Saturday. Bonus moments, getting your 1 year old that can't fully talk yet to bark at the TV. Having your 2 year old daughter randomly look at ANY sporting event on TV and yelling out GO GO. Her chanting Bulldawgs in response to every Georgia I say to her. Watching the two of them dance to the recordings of the Redcoats I have. I know those that read my blog probably thing I tend to ramble a lot, my wife would say I do it when speaking as well, and this is probably more rambling than any of my other posts but that is what happens when the fever hits you. For little kids it is Christmas eve and the night before their birthdays, for women it is Thanksgiving night when thinking about Black Friday, and for men it is the start of the football season. Stock the fridge, check the extra TV's to make sure you have extra coverage in all rooms of the house and even a spare or two in the main viewing room, break out the gameday shirt/jersey/pants/hat, fire up the grill, get the radio ready for the Georiga broadcast for football is upon us.

Boise has no flaws...

Georgia fans seem to be bi-polar about this season. Opinions swing from "this is a wasted season already because Richt is still the coach" to "book your tickets for the SECCG". Boise fans are not just confident in their team they seem to think Boise has no weaknesses.

I do understand their confidence as Boise is a very good team that is extremely well coached. They do gloss over potential problems for their team as they lost the right side of their OL, both starting WR's, and 3 of 5 in the secondary. Boise very well may be able to replace all of those players without missing a beat. It is very bold however to claim that a line that gave up the third fewest sacks in the country "should be expected to only improve in the season to come" and that their receivers should "seamlessly fill the void left by Pettis and Young".

Maybe their fans are right and we made a huge mistake by scheduling them. If they truly have no weaknesses I am sure our coaches and players will be so terrified from watching their game film that a few of them may suddenly come down with horrible illnesses that keep them out of the game.

In all honesty I believe that Boise is rightfully the slight favorite for this game. Comparing their team last year to Georgia's and it is not even close. There is one problem with that, last year’s teams will not be playing. I think that Georgia will be the most focused during summer practice they have been since the last time we played Boise. I do not know if that will translate into a win but I do know that Boise better bring their A+ game if they hope to get out with a win.

First day of practice

The reports about yesterday's opening practice for UGA didn't offer much information about the players. Apparently Jenkins left practice with heat related issues. Malcolm Mitchell made a few nice catches and Richt let into him a little bit for not running full out after he made a catch. Maybe when the morning articles are out there will be a bit more information. There was however a nice slide show on scout from the first day’s practice. While it doesn't reveal much there were a couple of freshmen that pass the eyeball test. First was Amarlo Herrera. He looks like he is physically ready to step in and contribute at linebacker right away. If he is able to pick up Grantham's playbook fairly quickly he could provide some much needed depth. The other one that stood out to me was Justin Scott-Wesley. I guess because of how much I had read about him being a speedster I was expecting him to be on the smaller size but he is built more like a running back than a wide receiver. As for guys that have been around a bit longer Jarvis Jones looks every bit the part of a 5 star 3 year college player. Ken Malcome and Richard Samuel both have the build of guys that can run between the tackles and wear on a defense over the course of a game. Oh and this just in Kwame Geathers and John Jenkins are pretty darn big.

Does any of this mean anything to how the team will perform? I honestly have no idea but I will tell a story of a game I went to back in 2006. It was Wake Forest versus Virginia Tech. Wake came into the game 9-1 and playing the best you will ever see a Wake Forest team. I was chatting to a few Wake fans before the game and all they could say was how big Virginia Tech looked. Then as the game went on they started commenting on how fast they were as well to go with that size. When the game was over Wake had been beaten soundly. Wake would go on to win the ACC that year to shock everyone, especially their own fans. Which team looks more impressive getting off the bus does not win the game but it certainly does not hurt.

Malcolm Mitchell - Murray Raves

This is not breaking news as most UGA fans have probably already read on other sites how much Aaron Murray raved about him as the SEC media days, but with Murray saying that Mitchell was "faster and quicker" than AJ Green and that "he could start for any team in the country right now" it deserves a closer look at the impact he could have on UGA this fall. People tend to think that true freshman that have a major impact on a team are few and far between, not every star recruit can step in the way AJ did and impact a team. Georgia recently though has had a great deal of success with freshmen wide receivers. Terrence Edwards had 53 catches for 772 yards(11 game season), AJ Green had 58 catches for 963 yards and 8 tds, Mohamed Massaquoi had 38 catches for 505 yards in their freshman years.

If Mitchell can match the bottom of those three that would add 3 catches and 40 yards a game to the team. That would just about replace all of Kris Durham's numbers from last year. With Tavarres King Expected to be the number 1 guy that would be huge to have that second guy to take pressure off of King. Throw in the numbers that the tight ends are capable of putting up and at least in the passing game there should be little drop off. If, and this is a huge if, Mitchell turns out to be as good as Murray is saying he can be and were to put up numbers closer to Edwards or Green's freshmen years then look out for what the offense can do.

Samuel move makes even more sense

Pretty simple math. Richt knew that Thomas would be gone for the first game (or more?) this fall before he made the decision to move Richard Samuel back to that side of the ball. With zero carries between the other backs left eligible for week one it was a no brainer to have Samuel move back to offense. Samuel, Crowell and Malcome will all three get a chance to show what they can do in week one. I suspect Crowell will get the first carry, then every back will get their shot. As the game goes on each will be given the chance to show they deserve the most carries. With back to back games against top ten teams they will all be given plenty of chances to show what they can do.

As a side note is it any wonder that some of the top backs for future classes (2013, 2014) are committing to UGA so early, the chance to come in and play right away will clearly be there.

Thoughts on Richard Samuel moving back to running back.

Many people had speculated that Samuel would be moved back to running back after Caleb King was ruled ineligible for the upcoming season. It sucks for Samuel to have to change positions a second time while at UGA but in the end it could be a big boost for him and the team. This season Ogletree and Robinson were going to get the majority of the snaps at MLB. That means that Samuel would have had one year, his senior year, to make a big impact on the team. While most will still expect Crowell to be the starter there should still be plenty of carries for Samuel to be able to earn.

When Samuel first got to UGA he was a backup to Knowshon Moreno and there were not many carries to be had. He was just 17 years old that year. The following year he earned several starts and was third on the team in rushing behind Caleb King and Washaun Ealey. His numbers did not stand out at 88 rushes for 395 yards but they were solid. The top two running backs combined for 1311 yards on 239 carries for an impressive 5.49 YPC. It was however one game that skewed the numbers quite a bit. In the Georgia Tech game to end the season Ealey and King combined for 349 yards on 38 carries. It was that game that led coaches and fans to believe that those two would carry the load for the next two years leaving Samuel as the odd man out. That game turned out to be an anomaly and not the start of something big. Without the GT game King and Ealey's average drops to just 4.79, barely above Samuel's 4.79. When you take into account how much better the line played in 2009 the second half of the season once they had a chance to adjust to losing Sturdivant and there really was little difference in the production between King, Ealey and Samuel.

Will Samuel have as good a season as King, or Ealey for that matter, would have had this fall? That is hard to tell. However there are several factors in his favor. He is more dependable than either of the other two. I have not heard a negative thing about his work ethic or any off the field issues since he has been at Georgia. One thing that some might consider an issue I can see as a possible strength, his weight. Bulking up to play linebacker Samuel is now 6'2" and 243 lbs. Despite that he is still considered to have great speed. Two of Georgia's three scholarship running backs are smaller guys. Crowell is considered powerful for his size but he is not a bruiser. Samuel at 243 could be the type back that can wear down a defense and get the tough yards the team needs to grind out first downs.

The last time Samuel played running back he was still just 18 years old, even after two years on the team. Now he is 20, much bigger and has more carries than any other player on the roster. The biggest thing I see holding him back is that he never seemed to have great vision as a running back before. Hopefully some time on defense will help him better understand what defenses are doing and he will see the field better. This could also benefit him in picking up the blitz in the passing game. If he understands blitz pickups I feel a lot better with him picking up the blind side linebacker/defensive end as a 4th year junior weighing 243lbs than I do any of the other options at running back.

This move hurts the depth at middle linebacker meaning one of the incoming freshmen will have to step up there but when comparing what UGA lost in King versus got back in Samuel this could turn out to be a plus. The best thing about it is that it happened before summer camp to give him a chance to get back in the flow at running back instead of a few days before the first game.

How bad does the loss of King hurt?

Most of the last 12 hours since I heard the news about King being suspended I have heard two ends of the spectrum on him being suspended. One group has this being awful and writing off Georgia's chances at a successful season. The other group basically is saying good riddance and that the team didn't need him anyway. There are reasons I could see either of these being the case.

Losing King hurts because he was the only guy that had more than a few carries in a game coming back. Thomas had a few carries here and there but was never counted on to be more than a spot player. Malcome and Crowell have never lined up in a college game. Crowell carries the hope that he could be the difference for UGA this season the way Lattimore was last year for South Carolina but King was the security blanket. He could provide insurance if Crowell was not ready by game one to carry the load. He could share the load so that Crowell would not have to worry about wearing down by the end of the season.

Now that insurance is gone. Crowell will have to be ready game 1. He cannot wear down as the season goes by. Now instead of contributions by Malcome and Thomas being bonus to the 1-2 punch of King and Crowell they will both be counted on to contribute big time. Georgia cannot afford for any of the three to miss any time (except maybe against Costal Carolina and New Mexico State).

That is the bad news. However I do see a silver lining. One of the main things, often with good reason, is that keeps freshmen from getting playing time under Richt is they lack the pass protection ability of older players. The running game is sometimes hurt by this as better runners may get fewer snaps than another guy because he is not as good as a pass blocker. I do not totally disagree with this reasoning but I feel like to get back to the heights we expect UGA to be at we need a true feature back. I think that if Crowell can handle the running part of the game it will make up for what he lacks as a blocker. I also believe that a good way to slow down a pass rush is to force the other team to commit more players to stopping the run. That outside linebacker may be a step slower in his pass rush if he is worried about containing a guy like Crowell. I also believe that the fastest way to learn how to provide pass protection is to see blitzes live. It is one thing to see them on a practice field or a film room but a totally different thing to see it live. The other good thing is that our TE's can help with this problem as they are very talented and Murray is a very mobile qb so the option is there to move the pocket around until the young guys get up to speed in pass protection.

All in all I believe this does hurt the team but barring an injury to one of the guys left I believe the team can overcome it and possibly even turn it into a plus. Let's just hope that Crowell is up to the challenge, he does not have to be a savoir of the team but he does need to be an above average SEC running back right from the start.

Choking on the Kool-Aid part II

This one is easy, look at the post before. If you want to be optimist you can take a look at all the close games and say that UGA is that close to being a very good team. The pessimist, however, would simply say that Georgia as a team (coaches, players, S&C staff) do not know how to close out a game. They were simply unable to win a close game. 0-7 in close games. The only remotely close game that UGA won was the Georgia Tech game and Tech was coming back in that game until they were forced into passing situations late in the game. Whether it was conditioning, coaching, mental toughness, being too young at qb, or lack of a consistent running game Georgia simply could not find a way to win a close game.

Drinking the kool-aid part II

Any team with a losing record you might suspect got blown out a few times. For UGA however that was not the case. Four of the losses were by one score. All three of the other games Georgia was within a score or tied in the 4th quarter. The difference was often one play. Against South Carolina and Mississippi state it was a fumble when Georgia was going in for a touchdown. Against Colorado a fumble while in field goal range for the winning field goal. Against Florida it was an interception in overtime. Against Arkansas it was the inability to gain a first down late in the fourth quarter that at worst would have taken the game to overtime and at best set up a game winning field goal. Against Central Florida it was the inability to get one yard on the third and goal in the first quarter. That is 6 of the 7 losses. While it is a bit of a stretch to say 6-7 was very close to 12-1 the fact is for last years Georgia team it was only a few plays away from a very good season. There is reason to believe that the players will learn from last years mistakes in order to have those few plays go their way this year.

Drinking the Kool-Aid part 1

I am going to do several posts that go back and forth between drinking the kool-aid of why this season will be more 2007 and less 2010 and posts where I dump out the kool-aid and explain why this season will be no different from last year.

To compare how far we have to go to become not just ok but to be one of the best in the SEC and thereby the country I went back to last years AU game. It would seem a team that was 6-7 would be light years behind a team that went 14-0. The score would seem to reflect that with AU winning 48-31. However when you look closer at the game it was a very competative game. Georgia had a 14 point lead at one point. They were only down by 4 in the 4th quarter and the game was not broken open until after AU had matched Georgia's last score of a field goal with a td making it an 11 point game. Georgia was then forced to go for it on 4th down setting AU up with a short field to make the game look much different than it really was.

UGA actually averaged more yards per play than the vaunted AU offense. 6.8 to 6.3. AU was held 1.1 yards per play under their season average of 7.4 ypp. Georgia averaged 0.7 more ypp in that game than it did for the rest of the season. All of these are signs that Georgia was not far off from being able to knock off the best team in the country last season. The only major difference I could find was 3rd down conversions that kept AU on the field and got UGA's offense off the field.

If I am drinking the kool-aid I think that two factors this season will change that stat around in UGA's favor so that category no longer hurts them. A second year starter at QB instead of a freshman learning on the job and a defense that will better know their assignments being in their second year after making the switch to the 3-4. Throw in that it was Grantham's first year as a college DC and there is lots of hope that Georgia will mature in all three areas next year. That maturity will result in not just going toe to toe with the best teams around but being able to knock them off.

Let me rephrase that last part as a question. How much more comfortable would you feel with Murray as a second year starter, the defense in its second year as a 3-4 and Grantham with a year to have learned how to better communicate what he expects on each play call if UGA is up again on the #1 team in the country again this year by a score of 21-7 than you did last year?

Biggest offseason addition?

While many people are focused on what the "Dream Team" will bring to the table this fall I want to spend a few minutes discussing what might be as important an addition as any player the team added. Georgia's offensive line has not performed up to expectations for several seasons. Despite former offensive line coach Stacy Searels success at LSU and early success at Georgia he was not able to get consistently good play out of his line the last few years.

Will Friend, the new offensive line coach, has been working with less talented linemen at UAB and Garner Webb but has gotten the most out of them. His first season at Garner Webb his line, which ended up having 3 all conference players on it, helped the teams offense to be number 10 in the nation in total offense. This from georgiadogs.com on his bio may be the most impressive
"In 2009, UAB's rushing average of 229.9 yards per game was the highest mark for the Blazers in school history and ranked No. 7 in the nation. Their total offense average of 425.9 yards represents the second-highest average per game since the program was formed in 1991 and ranked 22nd in the country. UAB also ranked No. 15 in the country last season in sacks allowed, yielding only 12 in 12 games."

All of those numbers are good but the one that I love to see is the 229.7 ypg rushing while setting the school record. That tells me that he can coach toughness into an offensive line. The team does not have to average that many yards but anything in the neighborhood of 180 ypg would be close to a 40 ypg improvement over last season. To me that would make a world of difference in aiding Bobo with play calling, not to mention being the difference in so many tight games. His biggest challenge is going to be can he instill mental toughness into a unit that has been lacking it for several years. If he can then he might be as valuable an addition as any player that will be wearing Red and Black for the first time this fall.

Georgia most talented in the east?

ESPN blogger Edward Aschoff did a positional rank of players and units and then averaged out the rankings. What he came up with, not surprisingly was that Alabama, Arkansas and LSU were the top 3 teams in terms of average. Georgia however surprises slightly by coming in 4th in average and third in number of players in the top ten at their position (ahead of LSU). Seeing as Georgia does not face any of the top three teams this year that would mean he believes Georgia has more talent than any conference foe they face this fall. If that is true and the defense takes off in their second year in the 3-4 this could be a huge turn around year for the Dawgs.

Hypothetical of the day

If UGA could get one instant transfer from any team in the SEC who would you take? The nation?
For me it would defiantly be a lineman and I don't think there is any better than Barrett Jones from AL. He has started a ton of games at guard for the Tide and would help solidify the Dawgs biggest question mark going into summer camp. He may not be the best player in the SEC but he would fill a need for UGA.
From a pure talent standpoint I would probably go with Trent Richardson.

Ealey leaving UGA

Ealey's short roller coaster ride of a career is now over at UGA. It does hurt a bit in that despite all the trouble he has been in during his two years in Athens he was still the leading rusher the last two years. Crowell coming in as well as Malcome having finished his redshirt year should more than make up for Ealey's numbers. The other thing it seems is that there may have been more to the stories of there being "cancers" around the team last year. Hopefully his tale will be one of warning for Crowell as he comes in this summer. When you look at the raw statistics UGA should have had a better season last year than the year before but somehow managed to go 6-7. What we all have to hope for as Dawg fans is that Crowell is anywhere close to what we all hope he is and that the chemistry of this years team resembles the 2002 team under Richt.

Possible Cause for UGA's slide the last few years.

I was reading an article in the Athens paper about Clint Boling possibly being the highest draft pick among UGA offensive linemen since George Foster went 20th overall in 2003. Since then Georgia has had only three offensive linemen drafted total. In seven years, three linemen drafted. I have long believed that the biggest difference between where Georgia has been the last few years and Florida, Alabama and even last year with Auburn and when LSU has been at the top has been on the line. But still this number was somewhat shocking to me.
Georgia has had the skill players to be able to compete with anyone in the country. With players like Stafford, Green, Moreno and many others the talent is there. In order for Georgia to get back to the top of the SEC and back as a perennial top 10 team Richt is going to have to put the same emphasis on recruiting offensive limemen as he did on recruiting the state of Georgia this past year. Then once they are on campus the coaches have to develop them and have them all ready to play. The team cannot continue to allow an injury or two on the line to cost them the season.

Delayed spring wrap up.

I don't want to jinx it but this has been one of the more positive springs in a long time. Yes losing Trintant Sturdivant for the season hurts at a position that was a bit questionable to begin with but other than that there has been much more positive news this year than the last few years and probably more importantly NO negative news stories involving UGA players.
Recruiting was a huge plus landing the majority of the players the coaches went after heavily. There have been positive reviews on the changes in strength and conditioning as well as really getting down to focusing on nutrition. Geathers has stepped up big time. Murray is now the unquestioned leader of the offense, Tree is bringing the pain at linebacker and Orson Charles appears to be the man to step in and be Murray's go to guy with AJ having moved on. Then there is the arrest report, which for the first time in a long time is non-existent. It is a long way to the first game with Boise but if we can go into that game with zero players on the suspended list it will be huge. To have all 85 scholarship players committed to the team and focused on beating Boise will be a leg up no where the UGA football has been for the last several years before they ever step onto the carpet of the Georgia Dome field. With that continued focus throughout the season hopefully our Dawgs will be lining up back on the same field the week after showing Tech who runs this state.

Some good signs in spring

This article in the Athens Banner has a lot of things that I wanted to hear this spring.
When it says that Kwame is the most improved player of the spring that is a beautiful thing. Jenkins is expected to come in and win the starting job and be the missing link at nose tackle. If Kwame has truly improved that much it is great on many fronts. First it would mean if Jenkins does end up starting he will have earned the job, not been handed it for lack of options. Second it will mean that we not only have a starter at the position but an above average backup to where both can stay fresh throughout games and the season, ie no fourth quarter fading. Finally if Jenkins does not turn out to be what all Georgia fans expect (hope?) he can, we may have a viable option at the nose anyway.
Also hearing that Charles has been a go to guy is huge. He might be the most talented guy we have to catch the ball and need to find ways to get him the ball if we are going to be able to replace the production that will be missing with Green gone. Any pressure Charles can take off the receivers will be huge for Murray, who has played with Charles for a very long time.
With what might be one of the most under rated losses of last year of both long time full backs from last year it is great to hear Zander Ogletree get praise from Bobo. Say what you want about Bobo but he is not very quick with his praise of players. To hear him talking about the job done by a position we needed someone to step up is a great thing.

Rash of injuries.

Injuries are never a good thing overall but sometimes they can be a slight blessing in the spring when it is to an experienced player at a position needing to develop depth. For example Robinson and Rambo missing a little time this spring I don't think will hurt him as he was a full time starter who pretty much knows what they are doing. The time they miss can actually help in some ways by giving snaps to the backups with the 1st team, which can help speed their development and create depth. However any time missed by a player learning a new position or trying to earn playing time is a big set back. Jakar Hamilton, Marc Deas and Ogletree and Mike Gilliard all fall into this category. Gilliard is trying to earn time as a top backup at MLB, Ogletree is trying to learn a new position and Deas and Hamilton are both trying to show they can be the man opposite Rambo in the secondary.
If someone is going to be out for anytime spring is obviously better than summer and fall but for young guys the snaps missed in spring sets them back much further than a veteran. Georgia needs everyone on board if they are going to turn things around this fall so hopefully most of these guys will be back very quickly.